2020 VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL CLASS 6 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
FINAL TOP 5 TEAMS – GIRLS
- First Colonial- 259
- Briar Woods- 234
- Mills E Goodwin- 184
- Patrick Henry- 145
- Mountain View- 139
FINAL TOP 5 TEAMS – BOYS
- Douglas Freeman- 286
- Mills E Godwin- 235
- Thomas Jefferson- 226
- Rock Ridge- 152
- Riverside- 151
The First Colonial girls and Douglas Freeman boys took the team titles at the 2020 Virginia Class 5 State Championships. Several records fell and there were a handful of near misses. The First Colonial girls were just 5 hundredths away from the Class 5 Record in the 200 free relay. Sophia Knapp (leadoff- 24.52), Elle Caldow (23.68), Kiersten Godfrey (23.57), and Samantha Tadder (22.61) combined to win the race in 1:34.38.
Individually, Tadder blew away the Class 5 Record in the 500 free. She dropped 2 seconds in prelims to set the mark in 4:44.15. She was just off that as she won finals in 4:44.17. She took the record down by 5 seconds. Tadder, a junior, has another year to go after the overall Virginia State Record, which stands at a 4:43.43. Teammate Cadow set the Class 5 Record in the 200 free prelims with a 1:48.39 before winning the final in 1:49.44.
Tadder also placed 2nd in the 200 IM, taking 2 seconds off her best in 1:57.41. She battled closely with Mills Godwin’s Zoe Dixon, who set the overall Virginia State Record in 1:57.22. That record was formerly set by Torri Huske in 2019 at a 1:58.19. Dixon took it out with the lead and Tadder chased her down on the back half, but Dixon held on for the win. That was Dixon’s lifetime best by a second. (NOTE: Dixon’s overall Virginia State Record was broken the next day at the class 6 meet. She still owns the Class 5 Record).
Mills Godwin was half a second from the Class 5 Record in the boys’ and girls’ 200 medley relay. Jacob Oberle (back- 23.19), Zach Wassmer (breast- 27.75), DC Hellams (fly- 22.30), and Garrett McGovern (free- 20.32) combined to win the boys’ race in 1:33.56. The girls’ squad of Madison Cottrell (back- 25.45), Annabelle Young (breast- 28.75), Dixon (fly- 24.40), and Brooke Nelson (free- 24.83) won in 1:43.43. Mills Godwin was within half a second of the boys’ 200 free relay as well. Conrad Tan (leadoff- 22.47), Hellams (21.69), Oberle (21.16), and McGovern (20.37) won that one in 1:25.69.
There were 4 more Class 5 records set on the girls’ side. Briar Woods’ Abby Harter, a Virginia commit, first set the 100 fly record with a 52.68. That was her 2nd time under the mark, as she’d already broken it in prelims. She took down her own record in the 100 breast in prelims, clocking a 1:02.37 to break her record from 2019.
Teammate McKenzie McConagha set the 100 back record with her 53.44 in prelims. She was just off that as she won the title in 53.51. McConnagha also took silver in the 100 fly (54.17) behind Harter. J.R. Tucker’s Courtney Isley set a record in the 100 free as she won in 50.51. That took down the former mark of 50.79 set by Camryn Barry in 2017.
On the boys’ side, Rock Ridge’s Trace Wall clipped a tenth off the Class 5 Record in the 50 free as he won in 20.17. That broke Brandon Hamblin’s former mark of 20.27 from 2018. Wall swept the sprints with a 44.34 in the 100 free, taking down his own record from prelims.
Douglas S. Freeman’s Aidan Duffy contributed an individual double to his team’s win. Duffy put up a 1:50.61 to win the 200 IM, dropping 2 seconds from his best. He returned in the 100 breast, dropping a second in 56.96.
Additional Event Winners
- Boys 200 free: Nikolas Lee-Bishop, Deep Run, 1:38.61
- Girls 50 free: Brieanna Romney, Kecoughtan, 23.48
- Boys 100 fly: Jacob Oberle, Mills E. Godwin, 50.59
- Boys 500 free: Hunter Locher, Douglas S. Freeman, 4:30.17
- Boys 100 back: Walker Davis, AAlbermarle, 48.63
- Girls 400 free relay: First Colonial, 3:26.51
- Boys 400 free relay: Douglas S. Freeman, 3:08.87